NY Post (Mike Vaccaro) —Let’s take Phil Jackson at his word. Let’s say he really does believe Carmelo Anthony spends too much time dribbling the basketball. Let’s say he really is concerned the offense tends to come to a screeching halt whenever Melo goes iso, and it affects the rest of the team badly. You know what? Jackson is...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Knicks couldn’t start talking about the West fast enough following Wednesday’s disgraceful outing against the Cavaliers. A 10-day, five-game Western trip looms, but it’s not as daunting as it sounds. Four of the five clubs are under .500. Removing the 19-3 Warriors, the other four clubs on the trip — Sacramento...

NY Post (Justin Terranova) —MSG Network analyst Wally Szczerbiak spoke with The Post’s Justin Terranova on Wednesday before the game against the Cavaliers and breaks down the start to the Knicks’ season. Q: How has Carmelo Anthony dealt with Kristaps Porzingis’ Garden love? A: Carmelo has been a tremendous mentor, and I think KP will tell you that. This...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —When discussing Derrick Rose’s game, explosiveness is normally the first adjective used to compliment him. Toughness rarely is. Rose has a degree of basketball toughness – forged in one of the roughest street basketball neighborhoods in the South Side of Chicago. One of the parks he played in was nicknamed “Murder Park.’’ Rose’s toughness was...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —The one play that symbolized an awful Wednesday night at the Garden came late in the first half, when LeBron James rumbled down the lane and every Knick seemed to shy away. King James roared in for a thunderous dunk, then stepped into the baseline seats, seemingly suggesting he owns the Garden. He certainly did...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —Give Knicks president Phil Jackson credit for this debacle, for his choice words riling LeBron James up while snapping Carmelo Anthony’s 12-day surge. James would not answer any questions about Jackson before Wednesday’s game and did his talking — and perhaps glaring — on the court. Spurred by Jackson recently calling his management team “a...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —Derrick Rose missed his first regular-season game as a Knick, because of back spasms, and was sent to get an MRI exam on Wednesday night to rule out any serious injury. Hence the Knicks were set to face the defending-champion Cavaliers with Brandon Jennings as starting point guard. The Knicks played six of their seven preseason...

NY Post (Mike Vaccaro) —This time, when Phil Jackson speaks, he knows he has allies. He knows he has plenty of people who have his back, because he can hear them, he can sense them, he can listen to the way they react just as viscerally as Jackson himself apparently does. This happens every time the Knicks play a...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —That’s more odd timing for Knicks president Phil Jackson. Just as the Knicks are three games over .500 for the first time since he took over and Carmelo Anthony is turning into his old clutch self, Jackson decided it was time to nitpick his star’s tendency to hold on too long to the ball, sometimes hurting...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —MIAMI — At least it’s not his knees. Derrick Rose’s status for Wednesday’s showdown against the Cavaliers is up in the air after he suffered back spasms in the third quarter and made an early exit from the Knicks’ 114-103 victory over the Heat on Tuesday night. Rose said it was not just his back,...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —MIAMI — The Knicks started a seven-game stretch Tuesday featuring six road games and one mighty home game — against the defending champions. Tuesday was the easy part. Now comes the hard part because an angry LeBron James is waiting. The Knicks made it difficult on themselves for a while against a post-Big 3, decimated...

NY Post (Hannah Withiam) —The Zen Master may be stirring more controversy than peace in the aftermath of his “posse” comments concerning LeBron James and his black business partners. Knicks president Phil Jackson expressed regret Tuesday for speaking about another team’s player and for his “word choice,” but skirted around the term’s racial connotations that inflamed James. “We...

NY Post (Marc Berman) —MIAMI – Joakim Noah is working on his free-throw technique with Jeff Hornacek as tutor, so “Hack-a-Noah’’ doesn’t become a thing. The Knicks coach believes Noah’s nightmare free-throw shooting is more “in his head’’ than technique, even though Noah’s form always has been unorthodox. It’s the latest issue in Noah’s troubled first season as a Knick. “A...